Olympian1010

That’s true. I still don’t think getting rid of the continental quotas had to do with the performances of “smaller” nations. It is what it is though. With all the countries competing in men’s skeleton, I wish there was still 30 quotas.

Except that those athletes participation was great look for both the IOC and IBSF. Frimpong had been sliding for 2 or 3 seasons before Pyeongchang, and had been a part of the Dutch bobsleigh program previously I believe. The Nigerians did game the system. However, both countries have continued to pursue the sport, since they were given that opportunity. Without those opportunities, why should any nations outside the main 10-15 fund programs?

Nah, it had more to do with the quota cuts bobsleigh/skeleton suffered.

Like the initiative, it might be a little late for Beijing though. I do hope the BSFN sticks around and continues to build a program.

I’m near certain that they were just happy a city bid for the Games

Definitely get the feeling there’s some potential for some Solano-esque performances...

Do they not have groomers in Oberstdorf? Could they salt the snow as another option, or would it be just as bad to have some harder/iced snow?

Even more important that Colombia went under 300 at the U23 Champs then. He might end up being one of the luckiest “chasing qualification” skiers.

Understandable. I’d imagine it’s difficult to come up with a topic/theme that tops necrophilia and orgies

@rybak could you explain the situation since I don’t speak/read Polish?

Well, I for one, can’t wait to see Finland flip off a bunch of unsuspecting Europeans If there’s a US broadcaster they will have to blur/censor the middle fingers (every time) or pay one (or more) FCC fines I actually think that song is a good dark horse for victory. It just seems, to me, like one of those songs that will do surprisingly well.

Golf Course is quite famous too. They have a big PGA player/celebrity tournament there. I was in the area a couple years back on that weekend, and the town was crazy busy.

Venue for the NHL outdoor games The Games are being played on the shore of Lake Tahoe, which forms the California/Nevada border. I believe the venue is on the California side. Olympic fans should be semi-familiar with Lake Tahoe since Squaw Valley is nearby.

“Please Stand By” is joining “very concerned” among the phrases I have grown to hate

@OlympicIRL Apparently I should have a funky “r” as well. Perhaps the “s” you noticed is related to that in some way.

Yeah, I definitely have the “een.” Huh, I had no clue about the hard “s” sound. I’ll have to listen to some other accents and see if I notice a difference. I would also normally say “die-gress” as well, so that might have just been a flub Thanks for your thoughts though. Now I have some things “interesteen” things to research

Wired’s been doing a fun series on American English dialects/accents. They haven’t talked about California much yet, but they’ve covered the East, South, Midwest, and Great Lakes pretty well. Part 1: Part 2: For those of you who have heard me speak on the podcast, is there anything about my English that stands out, or sounds different? Maybe @OlympicIRL could provide some insight here. I’m curious since I obviously have no way of knowing. I do definitely say “ing” as “een” like he points out that those west of the Rockies do at the end of part 2.

Which is why I think it makes sense to call Cruz out, like I originally did.

One would assume they will get the host quota

It has more to do with Cruz being a giant asshole. He voted against emergency aid for states affected by Hurricane Sandy because that storm only affected “blue” states. He also voted against giving aid to California during our struggles with wildfires. He was also one of the Senators who objected to the certification of the election of Joe Biden based on unfounded claims about election fraud. That’s just the tip of the iceberg on Cruz.

He is one of the two Senators from Texas though. The problems Texas is facing at the moment has to with their energy policy. They are the only state with an energy grid independent of the other two national grids. Their grid was deregulated and privatized. Cruz should be in his home state doing his best to care for the people he represents, instead he tried to skip town on a flight to Cancun.